The Conqueror Worm
by unclefather
Summary: Eren takes his chances using a popular, modern taxi app. Because the world hates him, he ends up having to hitchhike his way back to the city. A sketchy yet quite interesting man driving an expensive-looking car picks him up. Oblivious to Eren, the events that unfold afterward will ultimately change him in ways he could never imagine.


"Thank you for tuning into FOX1 News. We continue with our developing story of the series of violent murders that have occurred over the past week. Victims were all attacked brutally in their own homes. Police assume they may be related and advise all residents in the area to stay sa-"

Levi stared silently through the windshield, eyes not watching the road, rather staring at it. He gradually tuned the radio out as he drove. Unnecessary was how his mind interpreted the information being fed to him from the news being played. Somehow, he felt numb. It felt strange for his mind not to be filled with an overwhelming amount of thoughts. It felt strange to be in his own mind in the moment. He felt strange, but the feeling didn't meet his facial features in agreement. The indifference in his features made the slight wrinkles in his face look even more pronounced than usual. Not that there was anyone else in the car, much less who needed to know his feelings. Or care. After a beat or two Levi finally blinked and allowed his eyes to wander the distance from one side of his windshield to the other.

He unconsciously found his finger tapping lightly against the steering wheel, despite there being no beat for it to match to. Levi eyed his finger for only a moment before turning his attention back to the road. It continued to tap.

He found that he enjoyed driving more that he put on. Specifically, when he adamantly refused to do simple errands per his father's request, knowing the older man had the full capacity to do so. The latter possibly being the reason why he refused so strongly. The transparent feeling he felt when behind the wheel was unmatched by anything he had ever done. He wouldn't quite call it freedom, but that was the closest word he could think of.

Not that there was anything he needed to run away from per se.

He enjoyed how still his thoughts became. How he was able to simply relax at the sound of the engine of the car whirring, the sound the valve made, giving more air to the engine, as he pressed the gas pedal down to accelerate the car.

He drove silently on the two-lane highway back to the city, radio muffled in the background of his mind and audible senses.

Eren sat irritably in the backseat of his Lyft. He'd heard enough horror stories of these anonymous drivers online and from close friends who stoutly warned him of the lack of safety that lied in riding with the individuals. Eren listened, to a certain extent. To give him the benefit of the doubt, he had no other choice. He had just left work and found that the mode of transportation he used to get to work, his bike, had been stolen. After a scene of muffled screams and hair-pulling in front of his workplace, Eren decided to pull out his phone and test his luck. Which unfortunately led to his unluck. Or more intelligently, his misfortune.

At least he adhered to their warnings to a certain extent by sitting in the backseat. The thought didn't do much to calm him or ease his irritation. He had been looking out the window for quite a while now, and it didn't take him very long to realize that the more his driver drove, the less he recognized his surroundings. Rather than feed into his irrationality and impulsiveness, he allowed his mind to create scenarios to defend his driver.

Possibly he decided to take an alternate route, an alternate route Eren wasn't aware of. Despite Eren having lived here for almost his whole life. Another scenario. Possibly the driver was lost himself and didn't want to make himself look stupid by admitting so, and decided not to alert Eren of his confusion. Despite having Eren's apartment complex address in the GPS that stuck to the dashboard of the car.

Eren dismissed the rest, opting to test the waters himself before taking any drastic measures. "Where are we going?" The question came out a bit harsher than he intended, but hopefully, the driver caught a hint or two. Or three. The driver's eyes met Eren's in the rearview mirror as he tentatively looked to interpret Eren's facial expression, which wasn't as kind as it initially had been. Eren's features had mirrored a look akin to relief, a soft smile resting on his lips.

A look that was nowhere to be seen now.

A shaky breath left the driver as his eyes sharply met back with the early morning road. "I'm actually.. A bit-" Eren's eyes fluttered closed as he could feel the anger flowing up like bile in his throat. He suddenly wanted to throw up. Preferably, all over this asshole's car. Cutting the other off he spoke, "Pull over." Agitation that he couldn't quite withhold was laced in his words. The driver knitted his eyebrows in a submissive manner, obviously embarrassed. Why the fuck would he take a job like this if he knew he didn't know shit about the area? Eren's mind ran, increasing his anger the longer he remained in the car. He had just finished his overnight shift at the fast-food restaurant he reluctantly worked at, and this was what he had to deal with? What if he had fallen asleep due to exhaustion, would he have even gotten home?

Fuck.

"Pull. Over." Eren reiterated as if the other didn't hear him the first time. The other looked into the rearview again, hoping Eren would notice the speeding car behind them that made it almost impossible for the driver to pull over immediately. Eren didn't care, and with his anger rising by the minute he made his decision. As they continued on the two-lane road with flat land on either side, Eren slung his backpack over his shoulder and unlocked the right side door from the back seat. The driver looked back at him this time, features laced with concern as Eren's intentions become frighteningly apparent.

With one last look at the driver, Eren furrowed his brows and brought his hand up, middle finger pointed upwards while the others laid flat against his palm. After few seconds past, Eren gathered what energy he had left and allowed his adrenaline to take over as he opened the car door with all the strength he could muster, pushing against the oncoming wind, and leaped out of the car, tumbling to the flat land that paralleled the road.

The chain of events had occurred so fast that by the time Eren's body had finally come to a stop, he felt lost. Obviously, because he didn't know where he was, but also because he couldn't understand why this had to happen to him. He slowly raised his head and shook the dirt and dust out of his brunet locks. With the adrenaline gradually passing, the pain in his neck, back, and legs became increasingly more pronounced. Eren hissed silently as he rose to his feet, dusting his clothes. The thought that he possibly didn't think this through crossed his mind, but he dismissed it as fast as it appeared.

No use in thinking about things you can't change.

He assessed his surroundings. The desert sun was slowly rising as the morning gained on him. Doing a 360 turn, he realized two things. First, there were barely any cars on the two-lane highway. Secondly, the latter decreased his chances significantly of getting a ride back to the city itself. The fucker was so lost, he drove Eren out of town. Eren kicked a rock at the thought, the action doing absolutely nothing to help the situation besides acting as an outlet for Eren's anger. Raising his head to the sun, he shut his eyes and ran a hand through his hair. He was tired. All he wanted was to go home, take a hot shower, and sleep his exhaustion away.

But he couldn't.

Eren sighed and refocused himself to the situation at hand. With a glance back to the big buildings and evidence of a city to his left, he began his trek to the road in front of him. With the road being as bare and car-less as it was, Eren sprinted across the road to the flat land on the other side of the road which would ultimately lead him back home.

His initial pace was clearly motivated as his speed was considerably fast considering his bodys current condition, but it soon digressed to a slow walk with his weak left arm raised in a fashion he hoped would indicate his need for a ride.

Eren didn't even register how much time had passed since he had made the inevitable decision to jump out of his Lyft. The fucker didn't even come back. Not that Eren really expected him to, but a wave of annoyance swept over him as he remembered that he actually paid for the ride. His hand dropped lifelessly to his side. His eyebrows unknitted themselves above his eyes, as though not having enough energy in his facial muscles to continue doing so. His legs never stopped moving, however, determination apparently lying in his lower body.

The thought that he would never get back crawled into his mind, effectively causing his throat to constrict, an intense burn following. He wasn't going to cry. Eren wasn't a crier. He truly wasn't, but the series of events never ceased to replay in his mind, as if reminding him over and over how much of an idiot he is and how he'll never change. His mind immediately ran to his sister. Mikasa. She was going to be pissed when she found out. A sigh ripped from his lips.

Wait.

His legs stopped moving instantaneously as he slid his bag from around his shoulder and set it down on the ground. Squatting to meet it in height, he unzipped it, haphazardly looking for his phone. An overwhelming sense of relief overtook him as he eyed the device, taking it out of his bag, zipping it closed, and tugging it over his shoulder once again. Eren's thumb pressed lightly against the power button casually expecting the screen light to come on as usual. To his consistent relief, it did. But dimmer than it usually was. Eren's eyes shot to the top of the screen where the battery percentage was displayed.

3%.

His throat constricted again, with a painful burning vengeance. Instinctively causing Eren's other hand to wrap its fingers around his neck, in a fruitless attempt to ease the pain. He couldn't make a call with his battery this low. Hell, he couldn't open an app with his battery as low as it was. Scenes of him using his phone to play games and scroll uselessly through social media on his breaks flashed through his mind. He refrained from throwing his phone harshly to the ground, instead opting to grip his phone. Almost tighter than it was made to withstand. He really needed to work on his anger management. Ew, he sounded like Mikasa.

The last thought allowed him to calm, if only slightly, as he pocketed his phone. Legs moving once again as he trekked alongside the road. City not as far as it had originally been.

His left arm raised again, thumb raised to meet the sun that was gradually making the walk more uncomfortable by the minute. As if an answer to a prayer he never made, Eren could distantly hear the sound of a car approaching. His head whipped behind him faster than his mind could register. It was a car, a good looking one too. Eren was willing to take his chances (once again) that the driver wasn't sketchy with a car that nice looking. Or course he never learned. At the very least, the driver couldn't be as sketchy at the driver that got him in this situation in the first place. Stopping in his tracks, Eren turned to face the car completely. He stood on the line that separated the paved road from the dirt road he had been walking on.

Both hands out now, he waved frantically as the driver closed the distance between them, speed gradually decreasing as they approached Eren. Eren was ecstatic and couldn't keep himself from venturing out into the road itself, assuming lightly that the driver wouldn't actually hit him.

With the car in close distance, Eren stopped waving and ran to meet the car instead.

The car pulled to a sudden stop as Eren approached it. The windows were tinted and rolled to the roof of the car, preventing Eren from seeing the face of his savior. Eren stood silently by the car window allowing a beat or two to pass before his eyebrows instinctively began to knit. The driver had stopped, but for some reason hadn't rolled the windows down. Mild confusion enveloped Eren's features as he lifted a hand to lightly knock on the passenger side window of the car. The window gradually lowered, and his savior came into view. Eren couldn't help but pause at the appearance of the other. He wasn't entirely sure what image of the individual he had in mind, if any at all. But this surely wasn't it.

The driver wasn't even looking at Eren, as if he was doing this against his better judgment. Not that Eren could blame him. Despite the air around the other, his features were nonchalant in nature. Apathetic to the whole situation it seemed. The realization forced Eren to unknit his brows. Blinking to restore his composure, Eren cleared his throat softly. "Hey...uh. Thanks for stopping." Was all he could think to say. Now that he thought about it, what was he supposed to say? His situation made no fucking sense in his head, much less out loud. He'd save the other the torture of hearing it.

Eren found himself staring again, he was searching his mind for words, but when he attempted to compile them together, they made no sense. Suddenly, for the first time since their meeting, the other glanced over to him. Eren visibly jolted. Unable to place exactly where it came from and why exactly it occurred, he settled for keeping his attention trained on the other. "Levi. Get in." The sentence had left the other's lips so quickly, Eren had to scour his short-term memory for the words so he could intelligently respond. If at all.

Levi? Eren wondered if that was the other's name or if that was some code he had never heard of. He stated it as if it were an interjection rather than an introduction. He opted for the former. With the second half of Levi's sentence ringing in his mind, Eren jumped into action and opened the passenger side door of Levi's car and hopped in before the other could change his mind. He slipped his bag to the floor between his feet as he closed the door beside him, then pulled the seatbelt over his form. It was only after he had finished adjusting his seatbelt and turned his gaze back to Levi that Eren had realized the other had been watching him.

Eren's stare didn't last long this time, deciding to keep his head focused on the road ahead. He wasn't entirely sure why, but the feeling of the other's gaze on him left him feeling more uneasy than he'd like to admit. Levi was a stranger after all, but it was a little strange. Unnerving at the very least. He felt strangely compelled to look back to the man, as if making eye contact would tell Eren all there is to know about the other. Against his better judgment, he did anyway. Levi almost looked rather stiff in the driver's seat. Almost. He was able to pull it off as possibly a sitting position he did naturally, like sitting casually was out of character. He had his eyes trained on the road, as if looking elsewhere was nothing short of unnecessary. Eren concluded. The thought caused a huff to spill from his lips before he could withhold it.

"So you can stare at me like I'm some statue at a museum, but I can't know the name of the nobody I just picked up off the side of the road?" Eren jolted at the sound of Levi's voice. The sound was somewhat soft, but unexpected in the still silence that had filled the vehicle the moment Eren sat in the passenger seat. With his eyes still leveled to Levi's form, he glanced away from the other. The overwhelming need to bang his head into the dashboard flooding him. "Fuck. Sorry, I'm Eren." He hoped the exhaustion wasn't too apparent in his voice, Eren didn't realize just how bad he was with strangers until this very moment. He raised a hand to awkwardly scratch the back of his head as he spoke again. "Thanks for stopping, by the way."

Without a beat. "You said that already."

"... Fuck." Eren couldn't count the number of times he'd imagined hurting himself at this point. Giving up, he allowed a chuckle, that came out as a huff of breath, to leave him. A genuine laugh bubbling out after. This was such a ridiculous situation, and strangely he was thankful. Eren obviously didn't trust the other. At all. But, he couldn't help but feel a sense of relief. It was the first time he had whole-heartedly laughed all day. It was bullshit situation after bullshit situation since he left home for work the day before. This was refreshing in its own peculiar way.

Eren hadn't even noticed how close they were to the oncoming city. A soft smile formed on his features. Special thanks to that god he never prayed for, really came in clutch this time.

"I still don't know where I'm going." Levi's voice had its own special way of cutting through Eren's thoughts and stopping his brain from functioning. Eren's eyes turned back to the other. Despite his demanding tone and disrespectful way of speaking, Levi was a pretty tepid guy. Which made him a little uncomfortable to be around but, for some reason, Eren didn't mind it much. He didn't feel any pressure in Levi's company. When Levi spoke, Eren felt as though he should be offended but can't quite get his emotions to agree.

Feeling like he finally figured the man out, Eren responded. "You never asked." Voice snarky and laced with attitude. His eyes never left Levi's, anticipating his response. If Eren was being honest with himself, he would have realized that his response made ultimately no sense as it was his responsibility to inform Levi of his destination. "Well, now I know why your stubborn ass was stuck at the side of the road." Eren couldn't stop the audible gasp that left his lips. Eyes enlarging as he stared at the other. Levi's expression hadn't changed, if anything, he looked more annoyed than he had been previously.

A huff of indignation blew from Eren's nostrils, childishly shifting back to face the road. A snort interrupted the silence. It didn't come from Eren. Eyebrows raised, he turned his attention back to Levi, suddenly intrigued by his display of emotion. Taking a glance at Eren, they made eye contact for half a second, if Eren were counting, before turning back to the road ahead. "What are you? Twelve?" Amusement still clear in Levi's voice, Eren couldn't find it within himself to take his hypothetical question seriously. "Actually," Suddenly feeling pompous and rather full of himself. "I'm twenty-three."


End file.
